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Cameras for speed limit enforcement

The implementation of cameras for speed limit enforcement is the joint project of the Estonian Road Administration and the Police and Border Guard Board as part of the national road traffic safety programme.

The purpose of installing the cameras is to calm the traffic and reduce the number of accidents. Cameras keep speeding under control and help to make sure that drivers stay within permitted speed limits on dangerous road sections, thus making traffic safer and reducing the number of road accidents. Cameras have a preventive and disciplining effect. Drivers know that there are cameras for speed limit enforcement installed on certain road sections and that exceeding the permitted speed limit will not go undetected.

Based on the experience of other countries, speed cameras help reduce the number of road accidents with human casualties by approximately 20%. High speeds account for about 20% of road deaths, meaning that speeding causes about 8500 deaths per year.

Advantages of automatic speed supervision

Automatic speed supervision has several advantages compared to traditional supervision.

Efficiency – the likelihood of discovering vehicles exceeding speed limits is very high.

Speed – the penalty decision along with a contestation form is sent to the authorised vehicle user immediately after identification.

Economy – work processes have been automated to the maximum and the number of people involved in the processing activities is minimum. The time and labour that can be saved on account of regular processing of speeding can be used to discover and prevent other traffic violations.

Trustworthiness – a photo will always be taken of anyone exceeding the speed limit; the possibility of mistakes is minimal.

Equal treatment – all cases are recorded. Every kilometre above the limit is always met with the same fixed amount of money determined by the law (1 km/h = 3 euros) for everyone.